Quanesha Burks (born March 15, 1995) is an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who mainly competes as a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er. She represented her country at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

and the

2017 World Championships in Athletics The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

. She was the gold medalist at the regional

2015 NACAC Championships in Athletics The 2015 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships was a regional track and field competition held at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica from August 7–9, 2015. It was the second edition of a senior ...

. Collegiately, she competed for

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

and was the 2015 NCAA Division I champion in long jump.

Career

Born to Lesha Dobbins in

Ozark, Alabama Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Dale County, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 14,907. Ozark is the principal city of the Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area, as well as a part of the Dothan-Ozark Co ...

, she attended Hartselle High School and went on to study at

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. Burks has four younger siblings; two brothers and two sisters. While a high school student, she took up track and performed well, going on to place third in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

at the 2012 USATF Junior Olympics and winning a

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

/long jump/triple jump triple at the 2013 state championships.

College

Burks competed for the

where she was a multiple-time

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

champion and multiple-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

champion, including being Alabama's first women's long jump champion. In college, she also competed in the 100 meter dash and 4x100 relay. Her first NCAA long jump title came at the

2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held from June 10 to June 13, 2015. This was the 94th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 34th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Cham ...

. She was runner-up to Jamaica's Chanice Porter at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships and also took second at the

2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 53rd NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 36th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Gilliam Indoor Track St ...

after Sha'Keela Saunders.

Professional

Burks made her international debut at the age of nineteen, competing in the long jump at the

2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1995 or later) which was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA, on 22–27 July 2014. A total of 44 a ...

, where she placed fifth.Quanesha Burks
IAAF. Retrieved 2018-02-19. A senior gold medal came at the

, where she set the championship record at 6.93 m. She managed eighth place in the final at the

, but took a second regional gold at the

2016 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics The 9th NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics were held at Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González, Jorge "El Magico" Gonzalez National Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador from July 15–17, 2016. Medal summary Medal winners and complete results ...

, breaking the championship record with a jump of 6.74 m. After a fourth place finish at the

2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships were held at Hornet Stadium (Sacramento), Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California, Sacramento, California. Organized by USA Track & Field ...

, her global senior debut came at the

, though she did not make it beyond the qualifying round. She was third at the 2018

PSD Bank Meeting The PSD Bank Meeting was an annual indoor track and field competition which took place in February at the Arena-Sportpark in Düsseldorf, Germany. The inaugural edition ''1. Internationales Indoor Meeting Düsseldorf'' was held in 2006 and attra ...

on the

IAAF World Indoor Tour The World Athletics Indoor Tour, formerly the IAAF World Indoor Tour, is an annual series of indoor track and field meetings, held since 2016. It was designed to create a Diamond League-style circuit for indoor track and field events, to raise th ...

, then finished second to

Brittney Reese Brittney Davon Reese (born September 9, 1986) is a retired American long jumper, Olympic gold medalist, and a seven-time world champion. Reese is the indoor American record holder in the long jump with a distance of 7.23 meters. Personal life Bo ...

at the

2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place from February 16 to February 18 and served ...

to earn qualification to the

2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2003. Bidding process Birmin ...

where she finished 4th.

International competitions

National titles

*NCAA Outdoor Championships **

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Personal life

Burks grew up in poverty. She worked at McDonald's as a high school student to help pay for her grandmother's car insurance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burks, Quanesha Living people Track and field athletes from Alabama People from Ozark, Alabama American female long jumpers Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States African-American track and field athletes Alabama Crimson Tide women's track and field athletes 1995 births USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners